It is very early on in the season, but the Yankees have not gotten off to a good start. With that being said, what are their biggest concerns thus far?
The New York Yankees did not get off to the start they envisioned during Spring Training. The Yankees have also faced quite a bit of adversity early in the season. But there are some concerns for the Yankees in their “Quest for 28”. So we look at three early concerns for the 2019 season.
How Many Injuries Can the Yankees Withstand
The New York Yankees have nearly a full team’s worth of talent sitting on the Injured List. The Yankees have approximately $86,412,057 of salary on the Injured List. That is a very concerning number. The Yankees have 11 players on the IL, the ace (Luis Severino), starting DH (Giancarlo Stanton), the 5th starter (twice over; CC Sabathia, Jordan Montgomery). There’s also the shortstop (Didi Gregorius) and the backup shortstop (Troy Tulowitzki), our starting third basemen (Miguel Andujar), and our starting center fielder (Aaron Hicks.) Plus a lot more players.
The Yankees have been able to hold down the fort (so far) this season. But if this trend continues the Yankees may not be able to sustain the continued losses.
Offense Heavily Reliant on the Home Run Ball
The New York Yankees are known as the Bronx Bombers for a reason. They have always been a power pact offense. Last season they set the home run record with 267 home runs as a team. The Yankees have scored 34 runs out of 42 runs via the home run ball this season (as of 4/7.)
As we have seen over the past few seasons, home runs don’t win the World Series. It’s the team that’s able to put the ball in play are the teams raising the Commissioners Trophy in the end. So if the Yankees homer reliant trend continues another early October exit may be on the horizon.
Still, Some Questionable Moves made by Aaron Boone
Last season, we were witnesses to a man learning how to do a tough job on the fly. We were witnesses to a man with no prior experience in any capacity be hired for a job that comes with extremely high expectations. In Aaron Boone’s hiring, we saw someone who was the polar opposite of the previous Yankee manager, Joe Girardi. But it was with that inexperience that we saw question moves (and non-moves) being made with the pitching staff and lineup.
Now here we are into the second season, and with more time comes more experience. Right? Yet, we still see bone-headed decisions be made at times with the use of the bullpen. The Yankees are not at full strength, and that made be leading to some of the choices. But if we continue to see relievers going out for second and third innings of work, when fresh relievers are available in tight and meaningful games.
We have to genuinely question if anything was learned from the first season in Pinstripes. Or are we destined to have a “Grady Little” situation of our own this season?